vRealize Lifecycle Manager – A Step by Step Guide

Finally deployed and configured vRealize lifecycle manager over a week. Imported vRealize automation as well as deployed new components. This blog covers my journey in form of step by step guide on vRealize Lifecycle Manager. So let’s get started.

Initial Deployment and Configuration

vRLCM
is packaged through OVA template and deploying it is really easy. Use vCenter
server to deploy OVF template and provide Network settings etc. to complete
deployment.

After successful deployment, go to web browser and open below link:

https://<vrlcmIP>/vrlcm

Login with default admin credentials

Username – admin@localhost

Password – vmware

As
soon as you logged in, it will ask to set password for root account. Provide
new password of root.

And
we are done, vRLCM is deployed and will present its first login screen

vRLCM 2.0 Compatibility with vRNI 4.0

vRNI 4.0 is compatible with vRLCM after installing patch 2 only. So we will install patch 2 for vRLCM 2.0.

To install patches, Go to settings -> Updates -> Install Patch

Upload
Patch File downloaded earlier and click Next

Review details and Install Patch.

Wait
for some time to get patch installed, it will start showing under maintenance
window so don’t worry. You will be
redirected to home page after patch installation is complete.

After
installing patch vRNI 4.0 is listed as supported version.

Configure Product Binaries

If we need to deploy components using vRLCM then their product binaries need to configured first. If you are importing existing environment then configuration of product binaries is not necessary. You can configure product binaries with below options:

Local

NFS Share

My VMware account to download binaries directly from internet

To configure product binaries, go to settings -> Product Binaries

I
have created a NFS share and saved all binaries in same. So I will add NFS
share to discover all binaries in one go. Provide base location and click on
Discover.

It
will add all the valid product binaries and list them in window.

Adding certificates in vRLCM

In
order to deploy components from vRLCM, certificates should be added to
lifecycle manager. You can use vRLCM to generate certificates or use CSR to add
certificates from external.

Once
CSR is generated and certificate is generated using CSR. Import them in vRLCM.

Go
to Settings -> Certificate -> Add Certificate

You
can create a PEM file to import certificate using file import option or you can
copy paste certificate in respective field. PEM file format should be as below:

——-Private
Key——–

——-Domain
Certificate——–

——-Intermediate
Certificate if any——–

——-Root
Certificate——–

Use
Browse option to select file you have created earlier and all options will be
populated automatically.

Click
on Import and certificate will be imported successfully.

Step by Step Guide to Build Environment

So we have completed initial configuration of vRealize Life Cycle Manager. We can now start building our environment.

Add a DataCenter

First
task is to create a data center. Go to Home -> Datacenter and click on Add new Data Center.

Provide
a name and Location of Datacenter and click on Add to save Data Center.

Manage vCenter Server

After datacenter
is added, we need to add vCenter server which will be used to host components
deployed from vRLCM or contain VMs of environment which we need to import.

In
same location, Home -> Datacenters, go to Manage vCenter Server tab.

Click
on add vCenter servers and a new dialogue box will be opened. Provide vCenter
server name, credentials and select which type of vCenter it is.

If
it is being used to manage VMware environment and components then select
Management,

If
it is being used to host only workload VMs then select Workload

If
both Management and Workload VMs are running in same vCenter then select
consolidated and click on Add.

Request
will be submitted, which you can monitor by going to Home -> Requests

Import Existing vRA environment and add New
components

So we are
now ready to create environment and either deploy new components or import existing
ones. In this example, I am going to import vRealize Automation environment and
deploy vROPs, vRLI, vRNI, vRB using vRLCM.

To
start, go to Home -> Create Environment

Select
Datacenter created earlier and provide rest of details, such as email address,
default password etc. and click Next.

Next
page will display, which appliance to deploy or import. For every component, if
new deployment is required select New
Install or Import of existing environment is required select Import.

Next
page is to accept EULA. Accept EULA and select Next.

Provide
required License keys for product selected.

Configure vCenter server and network settings. These are default configurations such as gateway, DNS, domain name which will be common for all appliances being deployed from vRLCM. You can choose to override default network configuration during configuration of individual components.

Once
all components’ details are provided and all are green, it will ask you to run
Prechecks. Click on RUN Precheck to run validations.

Troubleshoot
any error if occurred during validation. If all is green, Click on Download
Report to save for future use and click Next.

It
will show summary of all configuration, review it and click on Submit to start
deployment or import or both.

You
can verify requests page to look at status of your environment build.

Issues Encountered

vRLI
doesn’t support more than two domain name servers – use advanced settings to
override default network settings.

Whew! Quite
a long guide and a lot of things to cover. This was one of interesting
deployment which I did last week and consumed a lot of my time. But interesting
piece of work. Your whole lifecycle management of vRealize Suite is very easy
and just a couple of clicks. Other features provided by vRealize Lifecycle
Manager:

Certificate
Replacement

Password
Management

Patch
Management of entire vRealize suite

Upgrade
of suite

Snapshot
management of whole environment

Still
exploring more features. Let me know if you would like to see a guide on any particular
topic. Till next time. Logging off!